B.C. 53 Winnipeg 17: Leos lay a licking on bottom-feeding Bombers

BC Lions' Adam Bighill (44), J.R. LaRose (27) and Ryan Phillips (21) celebrate Bighill's touchdown after recovering Winnipeg Blue Bombers' fumble on their first play of the game in the first half of CFL action in Winnipeg Friday, September 27, 2013.

Photograph by: THE CANADIAN PRESS
, John Woods

WINNIPEG — The best offence for the B.C. Lions without Travis Lulay these days is a good defence.

Three first-half touchdowns produced by the CFL’s top-ranked defensive unit sent the Lions on their way to an easy 53-17 win over the 2-11 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Friday, ending a tough stretch where they played twice in six days, and setting them up nicely for their biggest tests of the year.

Adam Bighill, Cord Parks and Dante Marsh had defensive touchdowns early and by the end the visitors had scored 34 points off seven turnovers, as the Lions won their third in a row, taking a share of the lead in the West Division starting weekend play.

Thomas DeMarco wasn’t dazzling at quarterback for the Lions, but the way the defence kept producing points it wasn’t necessary. B.C. produced 25 points in the first half from Winnipeg mistakes and the touchdown DeMarco generated was a result of a blown coverage.

It was a 7-7 game before DeMarco even took to the field for the first time. Bighill set the tone for the Lions defensively on the Bombers first play from scrimmage when he alertly picked up a lateral and ran in from 30 yards out.

But the Lions defence had much more in store. A play after being flagged for pass interference, Marsh stepped in front of a pass and ran it back 79 yards for a score.

Fellow cornerback Parks, who nearly had an interception of his own in the first half, picked up a fumble forced by Bighill for another touchdown.

It was 33-7 in the second quarter as the Bombers, whose coach Tim Burke was criticized for taking a knee late in regulation last week against Edmonton, looked as if they were about to do the same thing much earlier.

However, Winnipeg quarterback Max Hall was by no means gun-shy despite the defensive performance being turned in against him. Hall had a scoring drive finished off by Clarence Denmark early in the half and was rewarded for taking a shot into the end zone with Denmark late in the second quarter.

B.C. was much more dedicated in trying to establish a ground game early with Winnipeg native Andrew Harris. And though it didn’t pay immediate dividends, it did help in the passing game.

DeMarco found Nick Moore uncovered on the wide side of the field and the two had no trouble connecting for a 25-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

It was 33-14 at the intermission and the toughest task for Lions coach Mike Benevides might have been to keep the attention of his team before heading onto to their charter flight home.

Even though Hall didn’t flinch, Burke did. The Winnipeg coach pulled Hall to start the third quarter and his replacement, Jason Boltus, threw an interception on his first play and DeMarco eventually ran into that mistake as well.

But the inexperience of the Lions quarterback is such that they are not in a position to let up, and though the game was comfortably in hand DeMarco had to keep pushing.

Typical of a thrower who was only making his second start, DeMarco was sharp at times and indecisive at others. He was stopped on a short-yardage play in the third quarter just after making a solid completion to Moore.

Boltus, however, was way worse, not taking any advantage of the chance to move up the depth chart. And when presented with good field position, Harris capped off another scoring drive with his best run in some time from 16 yards out.

The crowd of 29,457 at Investors Group Field, who have only seen the Bombers won once in seven tries in their new facility, began chanting for quarterback Buck Pierce to appear.

They got their wish on the first series of the fourth. When Pierce entered, it was the loudest cheer of the night. Pierce could only generate a field goal from four possessions before giving way to the other ex-Winnipeg quarterback, Joey Elliott, but the Lions had more than enough.

Now comes the tough part for the 9-4 Lions, starting with their Friday date against Geroy Simon and the Saskatchewan Roughriders. B.C. has a pair of dates with both Saskatchewan and the Calgary Stampeders in its final five games. It’s by no means a cinch they’ll host a home playoff game, but as long as their defence holds up it’s going to be interesting even if their starting quarterback isn’t ready.

Story Tools

BC Lions' Adam Bighill (44), J.R. LaRose (27) and Ryan Phillips (21) celebrate Bighill's touchdown after recovering Winnipeg Blue Bombers' fumble on their first play of the game in the first half of CFL action in Winnipeg Friday, September 27, 2013.

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